First Kiss
by ManonLeChat
Summary: A first kiss. A slashy, fluffy, Ukitake/Shunsui vignette with a side of angst to go.


April 2010. Written for **ravens_rising** for the Live Journal community **help_haiti** fundraiser. Request was for Ukitake/Shunsui, a first time situation, with a hint of "hopeless doomed romance" (though I think it came out more as "unresolved angst" myself). Feedback is love.

_A big thank you to **Fenikkusuken** for beta reading._

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First Kiss

Kyouraku Shunsui had enthusiastically pursued the female cadets of the Shinigami Academy from the first day of his matriculation. By Second Year, he had honed his focus into a sworn resolve to lose his first kiss (among other things, if possible) to a cute and willing girl before the term ended in March. Thus it was to everyone's surprise, not to say shock, that it was his modest friend Ukitake Jyuushirou who accomplished it first, in very late winter around the time of the plum blossoms. The reason for his accomplishment was simple: while Shunsui had devoted many hours chasing a wide variety of females, Jyuushirou had simply taken the time to get to know one.

"Hitomi-chan? The one with the pretty eyes?"

Jyuushirou's cheeks flushed a delicate pink, a sign that Shunsui interpreted as an affirmative. He shook his head in disbelief.

"And is it true you gave her a box of candy?"

Jyuushirou shut the lid of his calligraphy set and pushed his low writing desk away. He had the unhappy suspicion that the conversation was about to take a turn in a vaguely embarrassing and possibly dishonorable direction. Unfortunately, neither was likely to deter Shunsui.

"What was it like?"

"Kyouraku! A gentleman doesn't talk about those things."

"Why not?"

"Because," Jyuushirou protested, searching his mind for a good reason. "He just doesn't," he finished lamely. Shunsui raised a brow. Jyuushirou sighed. "It was nice," he admitted.

"Nice?" scoffed Shunsui.

"Nice," answered Jyuushirou firmly.

"How far did you—

The desk screaked as it was pulled back into place.

Shunsui flopped backward on his sleeping roll and pillows which---not unusually---still hadn't been put away at nearly three o'clock in the afternoon. "Candy!" the supine form groaned. "If only I'd known they like _candy_!"

Jyuushirou ignored him, leafing absently through his older correspondence.

"Hey, Ukitake... Show me."

"What?" Jyuushirou looked up. Shunsui had lifted his head and was regarding him with a serious mien.

"Show me."

"You're joking!"

"I'm not."

"I can't do that," Jyuushirou laughed.

"Why not?"

Jyuushirou fell silent.

"A man who would let his best friend go on not knowing what a kiss feels like..." tutted Shunsui, staring at the ceiling.

Jyuushirou paused, waiting for the other to laugh and call it off... and kept waiting. "Fine," he said, pushing away the desk for the second time. Shunsui bolted upright, his eyes wide.

"Close your eyes!" ordered Jyuushirou, blushing slightly. Shunsui obeyed. Kneeling in front of him, Jyuushirou noted that Shunsui wasn't puckering his lips or grinning---only sitting motionless. Waiting.

Taking a deep breath, Jyuushirou kissed him.

The world went quiet.

Jyuushirou's second thought (after _I am actually kissing Kyouraku_) was how strange the other's rough chin felt against his own. And not so strange. Shunsui's lips were fuller than Hitomi's had been and not as soft. His fourth thought was the sense of Shunsui's chest rising and falling as his breathing quickened. Jyuushirou lost track of the fifth and sixth thoughts as the blood pounded in his ears.

He pressed his lips against Shunsui's a little harder.

The kiss ended in a rush, each pulling back quickly but not recoiling. They breathed heavily, wordlessly.

"You're a good kisser, Ukitake," Shunsui finally said, breaking the silence. He had gone preternaturally calm and still as he gazed at him.

Jyuushirou didn't answer. Rising, he backed out of the room, banging his ankle against his desk on the way. He turned and fled at the doorway, not stopping till he had reached the common courtyard. His back pressed against the corridor, heart pounding, he gulped deep breaths of chilly air that burned in his lungs.

_Fin._


End file.
